


In Your Name

by jadedsunshine



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Samurai
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Giemma shows up later..., Kid Fic, Parenthood, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-02 04:11:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16297916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadedsunshine/pseuds/jadedsunshine
Summary: A flutter of small, white wings during memorable moments remind Mike and Emily that loss comes with new life.





	1. Baby Girl

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this right before Christmas last year and only shared it with unicornaffair... thought it was time to share it with y'all, too. 
> 
> Enjoy!

During Mike and Emily’s time as Samurai Rangers, there were hardly any days of rest. Constant Nighlok threats would keep the two and the rest of their team on high alert. Now, after three years of caring for and, sadly, losing Emily’s older sister on the Ava family farm, the two had someone new that kept them on their toes.

Quiet wasn’t something Mike and Emily were used to anymore, so the small amounts of quiet time they _did_ get to enjoy were treasured. The two are sprawled out on their sectional, Mike focusing on the video game in his grasp as Emily browses through children’s boutique websites on her laptop.

A white floral eyelet dress with a yellow tulle underlining catches her eye and she sits up immediately. “Hey, Mike,” she keeps her eyes on the screen but tilts it a bit so that he has a better view. “What do you think about this one? It looks like one my sister used to wear when we were little. I think it would be perfect.” When she doesn’t get a response, she looks to see him still lost in his game and nudges his shoulder gently. “Mike, Earth to Mike.”

Mike puts his game down beside him and looks to Emily as he wraps an arm around her shoulders, his perfect smile slowly making its way across his face. “That’s the one.”

Emily smirks, tilting her head to the side as she lovingly eyes Mike. “You didn’t even look at it, how could you tell?”

“I could just tell,” he scoffs playfully before placing his finger on the touchpad to click and add the dress to the cart. “Em, if you think it’s perfect, then it’s perfect.”

After the checkout process is complete, Emily closes her laptop and places it on the coffee table before turning to Mike. “Be honest, is this a good idea?”

Mike is quick to pick up on her change in mood, instantly pulling her closer to him by snaking an arm around her waist. “Emily.”

“Mike,” she replies, allowing herself to melt into his embrace. “Every time I try to do something nice or good, I just turn it into a big mess.”

The conversation causes Mike to feel a sense of déjà vu. “Em, we’ve talked about this before,” he rests his chin on her shoulder and leans in to press a soft kiss to her cheek. “It's not good to talk about yourself like that, give yourself a break.”

“This has to go right,” her voice has dropped to a whisper. “This is too important to be anything other than _perfect_. I can’t let her down.”

He adjusts himself so he can look Emily in the eyes before he reaches forward tucks a loose lock of hair behind her ear, trying to soothe her. “Do you remember that last day at the Shiba house?” When Emily replies with a simple nod, he decides to continue. “Do you remember what you told Kevin?” This time, Emily’s eyes narrow as she tries to recall her words. She looks absolutely adorable and Mike takes a moment to take it all in before laughing softly when she shakes her head no. “You told him if anyone could do it, he can. So, I’m telling _you_ that if anyone could do this, it’s you, my love. Everything will be perfect. You won’t let her down.”

\--

Mike watches as Emily kneels and secures a basket of yellow roses and white lilies in front of the heart-shaped headstone just before bringing her bamboo flute to her lips.

The soothing sounds of the flute cause the infant against Mike’s chest to squirm and he can’t hold back his smile when the girl coos, her tiny fingers gripping the collar of his green dress shirt. He holds her close as Emily continues to play.

The music continues for ten minutes before Emily stands again, reaching for Mike’s hand as she stands in front of him and smiles softly, her eyes brimmed with tears. He lifts his free hand to wipe the tears that managed to escape. “I told myself not to cry,” she whispers before chuckling.

“You’re doing fine, baby,” Mike replies, his smile causing Emily’s to grow. He reaches for a folded letter in his back pocket and holds it out to his wife.

Emily squeezes his hand as she takes the yellow paper and Mike turns the baby in arms so that their daughter faces her mother. Emily presses a gentle kiss to her daughter’s forehead as Mike leans forward and kisses her’s.

The couple stays close, the infant cooing, as Emily lifts the letter and begins to read.

_Dear Serena,_

_Today marks a year since you’ve been gone and while we miss you so much, I know you wouldn’t want us to be sad today. So instead, we wanted to introduce you to someone very special. It still makes me sad to know that you never got the chance to meet her in person, but she keeps your memory alive and every time I look into her beautiful brown eyes, I think of you. This is our daughter, Serena. We’re honored to name her after you, my darling sister. When she is old enough, I promise to share your story with her so that she’ll know all about what an incredible person her aunt, her namesake, was. We miss you heaps._

_All our love,_

_Emily, Mike, and baby Serena_

The small sniffle has Mike instantly lifting a hand to wipe Emily’s tears away before resting his forehead against hers, “This was beautiful, Em.”

Emily smiles and they both look down at their daughter whose bright eyes are wondering. Her parents follow her gaze and both gasp when they see the white butterfly fluttering their way. It lands on the white dress right over Serena’s heart and Emily can’t hold back the sob that escapes.

Mike smiles, kisses Emily’s cheek, and squeezes her hand. “Someone came to say hello.”


	2. Silly Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your kind comments on chapter 1! 
> 
> Here's some more Mike, Emily, and little Serena cuteness. Enjoy! :)

The lush green grass surrounds Serena’s bare feet as she stands beside the tee, a plastic yellow bat gripped tightly in her left hand. She frowns up at Mike who is standing a couple of feet ahead, her eyes watery. “Daddy, I can’t!” 

The two have been outside playing and after a few rounds of throwing one of the plastic baseballs back and forth to each other, the girl finally placed it on the tee and picked up the bat. Five minutes later and she still hasn’t made an attempt to hit the ball, choosing to eye it instead. Mike sees her tongue poke out and her eyes focus on the ball as she contemplates if she could actually do it, but sighs when Serena looks away and goes back to biting her lip.

Mike closes the distance between them and drops to his knee, making level eye contact with his daughter and smiling. “You can do it,” he whispers, reaching for her free hand and squeezing it gently. “Just  _ try _ ,” he stands again and ruffles the girl’s soft, blonde curls. 

Serena nods once Mike takes three steps back and she takes a deep breath before she lifts the bat, swings, and makes contact. The ball flies right into her father’s hands and her face lights up as she begins to bounce around before dropping the bat and running towards Mike. 

“You did it, Serena. You did it!” He shouts, lifting his little girl into the air and spinning her around. Her giggles fill the air before he sets her down gently and kisses the top of her head. 

Emily is standing against the frame of their back door admiring her little family, her hands clapping to celebrate her little one’s accomplishment. The girl turns to her mother, smiling wide, “Did you see me, Mommy? Did you see me hit the ball?” At Emily’s nod, the child makes her way towards the house, her arms flailing. 

The world around them freezes when Serena’s foot catches on the base of the toy tee and she falls face first into the grass. Her small hands tighten around blades of green as she whimpers. Her parents share a look before they rush to their daughter’s side, Emily’s hand instantly running soothing circles on her back. “Serena, are you okay?” 

Serena lifts her head slowly, her eyes landing on her father’s face as a tiny smile crawls its way across the girl’s face. “That was so silly, but I’m okay.” 

Mike and Emily can’t help but chuckle at their daughter’s adorable reply. Together they help her stand and dust off her clothing when she grabs her elbow. “Does it hurt?” Emily asks her softly, a nod being all she gets in response.

“C’mon, let’s go get a bag of frozen peas,” Mike says as he sends a smirk his wife’s way.

“Peas?” Serena asks, her face scrunching in confusion. 

“It’s like an ice pack,” Emily replies with a smile, before holding her daughter’s hand and leading her inside. “Your aunt would use one every time I fell when I was a little kid, they always healed me right up.” 

Mike follows his two favorite girls, stopping to smile at the white butterfly he sees fluttering to a stop on top of the plastic baseball that was forgotten about in the grass. “Thanks for watching over her,” he whispers before taking the last few steps inside and closing the door. 


	3. Diamond Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the last bit of this fun little ficlet. 
> 
> There's a few other rangers mentioned, because, why not. 
> 
> Thanks again for all your kind words. Enjoy!

The game is 4 to 1 and the bases are loaded. Mike knows by the coach’s calculated look around the field that the entire game is about to rest on his daughter’s shoulders. He looks to Serena sitting at the end of the bench in the dugout, a yellow baseball cap on her head. As if on cue, she turns to see him looking at her and smiles big as she takes off the cap and waves at him. He gives her a thumbs up and mouths some encouraging words at her.  _ You’ve got this, mija.  _

“Diamond Girl,” the coach shouts and Mike’s smile grows as he sees his daughter instantly shift her focus, ready to do what she knows needs to be done. “Get your helmet on!” 

After a perfect home run during her first ever little league baseball game, Serena had surprised everyone, but especially her coach who was all too eager to call her Diamond Girl. Mike never expected the nickname to stick, but it did. He watches as his daughter grabs her yellow bat and batting gloves with one hand before fitting the green helmet on her head with the other, her side braid resting against the front of her yellow and green jersey. Lauren and Mia like to tease Mike about the colors of the team he and Emily  _ randomly  _ selected for Serena to play on everytime he sends photos to the group text.  

“Mike, relax babe,” Emily whispers from beside him, placing a gentle hand on her husband’s thigh to stop his leg from bouncing.

He takes a deep breath, resting his elbows right above his knees and rubs his hands together. He looks back to the field and sees the gloves already on his daughter’s hands, her left one twisting over her right as she adjusts her grip on the bat and firmly plants her feet inside of the batter’s box. Mike admires how his daughter’s determination shows as she closes her eyes and slowly opens them again, ready to play ball.

Serena misses the first two swings, the ball landing perfectly in the catcher’s glove both times. Mike is about to sigh deeply when he notices something small and white flutter in front of his daughter before her frown flips and her smile almost reaches her eyes. “Em, look.” 

“I see her,” Emily whispers again, her voice laced with a hint of sadness but mostly joy. 

The girl repositions herself and almost instantly, the sound of the bat making contact with the ball confirms a hit. The crowd gets to their feet and begins to cheer loudly as the fly ball makes its way through the air. A hand firmly grasps Mike’s shoulder and he turns to his other side to smile at Gia, a mother of his daughter’s best friend. “They don’t call her Diamond Girl for nothing.”

They both turn their attention back to the field to see that the ball had rolled between the opposing team’s shortstop’s legs and bounced off of the center fielder’s glove allowing a yellow and green clad boy to run home as Serena runs towards first base, dropping her bat in front of the other team’s dugout. 4 to 2. 

She continues to second base after the ball is overthrown to the catcher and hits the backstop. More cheers erupt as another boy makes it home. 4 to 3. 

Mike’s heart is racing because his daughter is out there killing it, her face filled with joy and excitement. “Keep going, Ree, keep going!” He shouts. 

The catcher’s throw to the third baseman is missed and Serena makes it to the base just as her best friend gets to the home plate. 4 to 4. 

“Way to go, Talie!” Gia shouts from beside Mike, her eyes bright as she smiles to her wife, Emma, beside her whose face is covered by a camera.

Emily reaches for Mike’s hand, holding it tightly. “She’s totally got this,” she exclaims as she beamed at him. Her excitement showing through the way she’s bouncing on the balls of her feet. “They could win.” 

“I know,” Mike replies with a smirk, squeezing Emily’s hand. “The coach is going to break his arm off if he swings it any faster.” 

The left fielder picks up the missed ball and throws it to the pitcher as Serena gives it her all and runs as fast as she can towards the home plate. She picks up speed when the pitcher throws the ball back to the catcher and her right cleat lands on white rubber half a second before the ball lands in the catcher’s glove. 4 to 5. 

The cheers from the crowd get louder as Serena high fives Natalie and Mike pumps a fist into the air, Emily quickly pulling him into a hug. “That’s our girl, Mike.  _ Our girl! _ ” 

After the excitement of the comeback win dwindles down, the field empties out. Mike and Gia have their daughters on their backs, both girls have their eyes closed and their arms wrapped around their parent’s neck tightly as they walk to their cars. 

“They did so well,” Emma says from behind where’s she’s walking in line with Emily, showing off the pictures she took of the game. Emily makes sure to remind her to email them to her.

“Ree was incredible,” Gia adds as she turns to smile at Mike. “That hit she made rocked!”

“They wouldn’t have won without your Talie’s run in the 2nd inning,” Mike replies. 

At the sound of the playful tune coming from a nearby truck, both girls’ heads shoot up instantly as they grin at each other and shout at the same time. “ _ Ice cream! _ ” 


End file.
